Hung jury derails baby death trial

By Craig Kapitan :
January 29, 2013

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The baby death trial of Indiana resident Johnnie Ray Byrkett was derailed Tuesday after jurors sent a note indicating they were hopelessly deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal.

State District Judge Melisa Skinner declared a mistrial after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days.

Prosecutors said they will re-evaluate the case to determine if they will press forward with another trial.

Byrkett, 29, could face up to life in prison if he is convicted by a subsequent jury of having caused serious bodily injury in June 2009 to 1-year-old Cruz “Ethan” Combs, his girlfriend's son, at their apartment in Windcrest.

He woke up from a nap while watching the child that day to find him gasping for air, he told jurors, adding that he has no idea what spurred the episode.

“This baby was a fighter, but his body had no chance,” Assistant District Attorney Chris DeMartino told jurors Monday during closing arguments.

Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of pediatrician James Lukefahr, a child abuse specialist. He said the baby's brain injuries were so substantial that he would have started showing symptoms within minutes.

With the child's mother at work that day, Byrkett was the only adult who could have inflicted the injuries, prosecutors alleged.

“It didn't happen out of thin air,” DeMartino said. “How could a child that was just crying moments before he fell asleep — according to the defendant's testimony — within 30 minutes later be unable to breathe? The only thing that could have reasonably happened was this little boy was abused.”

But Lukefahr's testimony was in contrast to the medical examiner's office, which ruled the cause of death undetermined. There was no external bruising, and medical intervention in the days before the baby died made it impossible to determine through an autopsy if he had been abused, according to the report.

After the trial, Cantu commended the jury for taking a rational approach to a tragic case. He said his client, who has since moved to Indiana, has spent every dollar he has on his defense and on flights back to Texas for hearings.

“This was a child that at one point he was considering adopting,” Cantu said. “He'd like a chance to grieve.”